Elmer nodded with a jerk and walked toward the tables. “You might as well set up here and talk to the ladies. I’m gonna go upstairs.”
With that, he left the Devils alone in his empty restaurant.
“That is one odd man.” Gideon looked out the window. “I guess we’d best get started so we can get finished.” He sounded like a man set to climb the stairs of the gallows.
Jake punched him in the arm. “Relax, Gid. They’re only women.”
* * * * *
An hour later, Jake took back what he’d said to Gideon. The women hunted like a pack of wolves. They didn’t come in the restaurant one at a time, they came in five or six at a time and surrounded them. Jake began to get the feeling they had a plan after the first two groups grilled them about their lives, habits, origins, likes and dislikes, even their mothers’ names.
Almost as if they were being sized up for a specific purpose. Jake knew what it was by the time the third group tumbled in and Gabrielle’s mother was in their midst along with the tall blonde who’d speared him with her gaze earlier.
Jake’s guard went up when Mrs. Rinaldi focused on him.
“Mr. Sheridan, this is Veronica Marchison, she owns the store in town with her husband, Matthew.”
Veronica looked the four of them over with something akin to dislike. “Gentlemen.”
Her stare was just as intense as it had been earlier, leading him to wonder exactly why Mrs. Marchison made his instincts stand at attention. “I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
Mary leaned in close, her face as cool as the water he’d used to wash with. “The mill has only been working at half capacity for six months. My husband…well he can’t work and we don’t have anyone to fix it.”
“Oh yes, poor Sam.” Veronica sounded anything but sympathetic. “Such a tragedy. I see you men are busy. I just wanted to come by and meet you.” She walked away, leaving a general feeling of unease in her wake.
As Mrs. Marchison left, there was a commotion at the door and a certain dark-haired woman shoved her way past the others. When Gabrielle came into view, this time his smile was genuine.
“Miss Rinaldi.” He gestured to her mother. “Your mother was telling me you need some help at the mill.”
“Gabby, I’m surprised to see you here.” Mrs. Rinaldi didn’t look too happy to see her daughter.
Gabrielle threw her mother a murderous glance. “While it’s true we need someone to help us fix the wheel at the mill, we don’t have any money to pay you.” She leaned in closer and the scent of woman washed over him, pulling him deeper into Gabby’s snare. “My father was hurt earlier this year and we haven’t been able to fix it properly, but we can’t take charity.”
Jake’s heart pinched at the pain in her eyes at the mention of her father. A very primal pulse of possession grabbed hold of him. He wanted, needed to help her, no matter what.
Gabby.
“I’d be happy to help you fix the mill and it won’t cost you anything. I can come by the day after tomorrow in the morning. Does that sound good?” The smile on his face began to hurt.
“Mama, you know we—” Gabby was no match for her mother. She grabbed her daughter by the arm in a grip that made Jake wince.
“That’s perfect, Mr. Sheridan. We’ll see you the day after tomorrow.” Mary ushered Gabby out of the restaurant before she could get another word in. There was obviously some conflict between the Rinaldis that started long before the Devils came to Tanger. Jake’s gaze followed the tall beauty out the door and into the street until he couldn’t see her anymore. Gideon poked him in the side.
“If you’re going to daydream, at least pick a pretty one.” He frowned at the crowd. “And help us get through these women’s requests. I think one of them wanted to take my measurements for a suit.”
Jake shook his head, amazed that Gideon didn’t think Gabby was pretty. If she got any more beautiful, Jake might have to become a lovesick idiot. Her mother, however, didn’t strike him as a particularly nice person.
It took almost two hours to speak to all of the women who’d come to the restaurant. By the time the crowd thinned, the Devils had half a dozen pages of jobs to complete. Phineas better have enough money to pay them for all the work. While Zeke looked over the papers, a lone woman walked into the restaurant as three others were walking out. They stuck their noses in the air and gave her a wide berth.
From the bright blue dress, artfully curled red hair and face paint, Jake knew in an instant she was a soiled dove. At last a woman he could be himself around without worrying about how he looked, sounded or what he said.
“Good day, ma’am.” Jake gestured to the chair in front of him. “Can I help you?”
The other Devils watched as she sashayed across the restaurant. None of them said a word.
“Hey there, Red.” She sat down and the scent of French perfume and woman surrounded Jake. Familiar, comfortable smells that alleviated some of his tension.
“Hey there yourself, pretty lady. My name is Jake, and these are my friends Gideon, Lee and Zeke.” The others nodded as they were introduced. “What can we do for you?”
“Pleased to meet you fellas. My Name is Lucy Michaelson. I, ah, own the saloon in town.” She fiddled with the lace on her cuff. “I heard y’all were helping womenfolk out.”
“Yes, we sure are. Do you need some help, Lucy?” Jake saw deep weariness in her brown eyes. Years of bad choices had a way of wearing a body down. If he had to guess, she couldn’t have been older than twenty-eight, however she looked forty.
“Those da—awful raiders shot up my saloon and took both my girls with them. Sons of bi—guns even took two cases of whiskey.” Her eyebrows went down into an angry V. “That idi—Mayor Wolcott refused to even talk to me about it and that witch Veronica won’t extend me any more credit to buy whiskey through the store. Folks treat me as if my problems ain’t the same as theirs, like I deserved what I got.”
“I understand everyone’s suffered a loss.” Jake had heard the story of prejudice and hard knocks too many times before from fallen women. In the eyes of society, once a woman took that first step toward making a living on her back, there was no return.
“That’s the truth. Sam Rinaldi is one of them. He’s a good man, the best in town.” A smattering of warmth flashed through her eyes. “It’s a da—darn shame what they did to him. All I want is some help getting the saloon fixed up. My bartender ain’t been right since the raiders took Trixie and Elsbeth, not that a seventy-year-old man is ever quite right. I lost most of my business when the war started, but now those raiders have stopped it completely.” She leaned forward and Jake was struck by the desperation in her eyes. “I’m going to run out of money in less than a month. As it is, I’m eating but two meals a day and they’re not too filling.”
Jake laid his hand over hers. “We’ll help you, Lucy. I promise.” He looked at his friends and they all nodded. “Let me write down what you need and we’ll figure out when we can get down there.”
A sigh whooshed out of her and a tremulous smile graced her lips. “I would be most appreciative.”
With a wide grin, Jake chuckled. “No thanks are necessary, but a shot of whiskey might be just the thing.”
As Lucy talked, Jake wondered at her comment regarding Sam Rinaldi. Did Lucy know him personally? If so, Jake could understand some of the coldness coming from Mrs. Rinaldi. Any woman whose husband stepped out with a whore would be understandably disillusioned with the way her life turned out.
After Lucy left, the Devils counted themselves lucky none of them had gotten married or killed that day. Tanger was proving to be a tangled mess.
The following day, Gabby decided to visit her friend Allison. Her jittery nerves couldn’t be around her mother and nothing at the mill needed her attention. Yesterday afternoon through the restaurant window she�
�d seen Jake talking to Lucy, and her stupid imagination ran wild. Gabby was torn between wanting to find out more about Jake and keeping away from him. The crazy thing was, she didn’t know which idea intrigued her more.
Allison Delmont had been her best friend since they’d met on Gabby’s first day in town. Where Gabby was tall and dark, Allison was blonde and petite. Gabby always felt clumsy and out of place around her friend, but Allison never even commented on it.
Beloved daughter of Reverend Delmont, Allison lived in a small house next to the church. She’d grown up with four boisterous older brothers, all of whom had died in the war. Reverend Delmont had kept his faith, while Allison’s mother let herself pass away from grief two years earlier. After the women in town had been kidnapped, Allison had grown so frightened of everyone and everything, she didn’t even leave the house anymore.
Gabby didn’t mind visiting her friend at home, she just wished Allison would stop cowering like a frightened rabbit and live life again. The blonde had been the happiest, most vivacious girl in town. Now she was a shadow of her former self, existing within four walls and her mind. Gabby even did the shopping for the Delmonts since neither one of them went to the store.
Although she didn’t care to see Veronica again, Gabby gathered the Delmonts’ weekly supplies. Fortunately, the object of her discomfort wasn’t at the store, Matthew Marchison was. The sad-eyed man looked sixty instead of forty but he always brightened up when he saw Gabby. Too bad his wife was such a cold-hearted bitch.
After chatting with Mr. Marchison for a few minutes, Gabby took the supplies and headed for the church, keeping an eye out for Jake and his friends. She didn’t trust them or herself.
As she walked toward the small white house, Gabby called out to Allison. “Good day, Delmonts!”
It was her standard greeting, one which gave Allison and her father ample time to prepare themselves for visitors. Gabby had frightened them half to death a few months ago and vowed to never do that again. She knocked on the door, noticing the peeling paint and weeds sprouting up. The Delmonts had not done any outside chores since the problems with the raiders began, and their house suffered for it.
The door creaked open and one blue eye peeked out. “Gabby?”
“Let me in, silly. You couldn’t possibly think anyone else in Tanger would be dressed like this.”
Allison opened the door wide enough to let Gabby in then shut it so quickly, she almost knocked Gabby over. Grabbing hold of the table, Gabby hung onto her dignity by her fingertips.
“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to— It’s just that—” Allison wrung her hands together as she frowned. The golden ringlets that used to fly freely around her head were now confined in a scarf.
“Don’t worry, I understand.” Gabby at least tried to understand, however, she was such a strong-willed person that cowering from life just wasn’t an option. “How is your father?”
Reverend Delmont wasn’t doing very well. The doctor visited the aging minister frequently, dosing him for pain. Gabby suspected it wasn’t all physical pain, but rather he’d given up on life, just as his wife had. It was hard not to follow the impulse to smack the man and tell him to look at what he was throwing away, or who. Allison needed her father and he either refused to see that or couldn’t break out of his own world far enough to see.
Either way, the Delmonts were in trouble and Gabby was determined to help them as much as she could. Even if her own father was crippled and lay in a perpetual state of nothingness, she could give this kind of help endlessly. As Gabby tidied up the kitchen and put away the supplies, Allison sat at the table and worked on some lace. The world around them was full of chaos and sadness, and she sat with fragile-looking lace. Gabby privately thought Allison used the lace as a means to reassure herself there was beauty in the world. She’d seen their friend taken, had witnessed the brutality of the raiders, and it left her in the state she was in—lost.
“There are some men in town, and before you panic, Phineas hired them.” Gabby made a face at the flour as she put it in the tin. “Gunslingers.”
“Really? Do they wear guns on their hips?” Allison’s petite face lit up like the sunrise.
Gabby frowned. “Yes, real guns, real gunslingers. They told me they were hired to ‘help’ the town but I don’t believe that for a minute. Carpenters don’t wear six shooters. Phineas is probably planning on paying them what’s left of the town’s funds with no guarantee whatever they plan on doing will get rid of the raiders. What we really need are lawmen.”
Allison rose and hesitantly approached the window. “You spoke to them? Are they here to protect us?” Her lethargy had been replaced by curiosity and what Gabby thought was excitement.
How interesting.
“What are their names?”
Gabby raised one brow at her friend. “Allison Delmont. Are you interested in a man?”
The blonde blushed bright red to the roots of her hair. “No, I just wanted to— You see, I-I—”
With a laugh, Gabby saved her friend from her stammering mess. “I’m teasing you. There are four of them, Gideon, Zeke, Lee and Jake. They’re all big men with dangerous, big guns.”
“Where are they from?” Allison continued to peer out the window, looking this way and that, her expression almost predatory.
“I’m not sure, but I think Alabama or Georgia, possibly Mississippi. Ex-Confederate soldiers.” She remembered the gray pants worn by more than one of them, the haunted looks in the backs of their eyes that marked every veteran she’d met. The broken men who had passed through town had only stayed a day or two, unwilling to risk their lives for a stranger.
“Southern gentlemen? And they agreed to help Tanger?” The need for a positive answer blazed like blue fire in her eyes. Gabby realized Allison needed a hero.
Gabby snorted. “For a hefty price, I’m sure.”
“Can I meet them?”
Shock rippled through Gabby. It was the first time in months Allison had even hinted at going outside, and she wanted to meet the gunslingers. Certainly not the best choice, in Gabby’s opinion, but she was thrilled to see Allison excited about something.
Although Gabby wanted to say no, she couldn’t. “Yes, we can meet them. Help me get these supplies put away and we’ll go find them.”
Allison pulled off the scarf and touched her golden locks. “Do I need to brush my hair?”
Gabby had a feeling she’d regret giving in to Allison’s request.
It took her friend a mere ten minutes to get ready. She came back to the kitchen with a sparkle in her eyes that Gabby thought she’d seen the last of. As Allison tied on her bonnet, she peppered Gabby with questions about the strangers. Funny thing, the blonde didn’t appear to be afraid of them, yet she’d jump at her own shadow. That worried Gabby more than she cared to admit.
They set off arm in arm toward Cindy’s restaurant. She’d been a friend to both of them, and Gabby missed her almost as much as Elmer did. The men might be at the restaurant, although Gabby secretly hoped they wouldn’t find them. She had no desire to scare Allison again, nor have the four of them swoon at the beauty’s feet. It had been known to happen.
Margaret Summers stopped her sweeping to stare at them as they passed. Gabby waved as the tinkle of Allison’s laugh rang out. A widow, Margaret had much to be sad about, but even she wasn’t immune to Allison’s brightness, which had been hidden for so long.
“Hello, Gabby. It’s good to see you out, Allison.” Margaret almost managed a smile.
“Hello, Margaret.” Gabby tipped her hat, aware how odd she and Allison looked walking together, since one dressed as a man and the other a young girl.
As they headed toward Cindy’s, unease crept over Gabby. They were out in the open, with no protection except each other. Allison’s grip tightened on Gabby’s arm. In an instant, the playfulness from five minutes earlier
disappeared.
“Maybe we should come back out later.” Allison’s voice was tense enough to crack ice.
“Miss Rinaldi.” Jake’s sweet greeting made Gabby’s breath come out in a rush. Was it relief or something else?
Both women turned to face him. Gabby was glad to see his friends standing a polite distance away, poised to enter Cindy’s. They all nodded to her. Even if they didn’t like her, they still used their manners. Jake on the other hand smiled so widely, Gabby thought she might get lost in the dazzle of it. Her heart beat a slow, lazy rhythm, pushing blood around and making her a bit lightheaded. Dang it, that was not supposed to happen.
“Good afternoon to you and your friend.” He took off his hat. “My name is Jake Sheridan, miss. I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Mr. Sheridan, this is my friend, Allison Delmont. She’s the minister’s daughter here in town.”
Allison looked at the ground beneath her feet, trembling ever so slightly against Gabby. She murmured something to Jake but didn’t look up. Gabby wondered if meeting these four large men would end in disaster as predicted. What she didn’t expect was the scary blond man to come to Allison’s rescue.
“Ma’am, my name is Zeke Blackwood.” He spoke in a soft tone, as if gentling a wild creature. “My friends and I aren’t going to hurt you. We’re here to help you and everyone in Tanger.”
Allison finally raised her head and looked into the man’s face. Where Gabby saw a cold, calculating man, her friend must have seen something very different because Allison offered him a small smile. Gabby’s mouth dropped open in honest surprise.
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Blackwood.” Allison performed a small curtsey. “My name is Allison Delmont.”
“Miss Delmont.” Zeke didn’t exactly smile but his face had softened a bit. “My friends and I are about to subject ourselves to Elmer’s worst dinner fare. Would you care to join us?”
Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 Page 5
